Elmer Earl "Butch" Hartman IV (born January 10, 1965) is an American animator, voice actor, and YouTuber best known for creating the NicktoonsThe Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, T.U.F.F. Puppy and Bunsen Is a Beast. Hartman also owns a production company, Billionfold Inc., which he uses primarily to produce his shows. Hartman was an executive producer on The Fairly OddParents for the entirety of its 16-year run.

Hartman's latest animated program, Bunsen Is a Beast, aired in 2017.[1] On February 8, 2018, Hartman announced in a YouTube video that he had left Nickelodeon on February 2 after having worked at the studio since December 1997.[2] He confirmed in the video that this resulted in the end of production on Bunsen Is a Beast after just one season.[3]

While still attending CalArts, Hartman received the chance to intern as an in-between animator on the Don Bluth film An American Tail. Shortly after graduating from CalArts, Hartman was hired as a character designer and storyboard artist for an unidentified My Little Pony animated series. It was the first time he had worked with storyboards, and because of this, he was soon fired from the job.[6] Afterwards, Hartman found work with Ruby-Spears, where he worked on It's Punky Brewster and Dink, the Little Dinosaur. He was also a member of the video reference crew for the Disney film Pocahontas.

During his time working at Hanna-Barbera, he became friends with future Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane. The two would later go on to make the short Zoomates together for Oh Yeah! Cartoons. The character Dr. Elmer Hartman in Family Guy was named after Hartman. He also voiced various characters in the show's first few seasons.

His biggest success came in December 1997, when he created The Fairly OddParents. The series originally started out as a series of shorts on the anthology show, Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Eventually, Nickelodeon decided to pick the shorts up as a full series. Premiering in 2001, the adapted series ended up becoming a huge hit, second only in the ratings to SpongeBob SquarePants (and it briefly even passed SpongeBob's ratings). Following the third The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius crossover The Jimmy-Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators, the series ceased production in 2006, but it was announced on Hartman's forum on February 2, 2007 that 20 more episodes would be produced; the 6th season of Fairly OddParents aired on February 18, 2008, starting with the 1-hour special Fairly OddBaby. From May 1, 2009 to May 3, 2009, the 3-part special Wishology aired; although that too was originally intended as a series finale, the series was renewed for another season. A tenth season was eventually ordered in 2015.[7]The Fairly OddParents is Nickelodeon's second longest-running animated show behind SpongeBob.

Due to the success of The Fairly OddParents, Hartman was asked to create another show for Nickelodeon; Hartman says the President of Nickelodeon asked him if he had an idea, and before he could say the title he was given the greenlight. The show would later become Danny Phantom.[8] To produce the show, in 2004, Hartman founded Billionfold Inc., which he also used, and still uses today, to produce his other projects. Danny Phantom received critical acclaim and is considered Hartman's best show, with Hartman himself acknowledging it as perhaps the best of his programs. Danny Phantom ended production in early 2007.

Around 2008–2009, Hartman began production his third show for Nickelodeon, T.U.F.F. Puppy, which premiered in 2010 alongside the Jimmy Neutron spin-off Planet Sheen.[9] The series received mixed to positive reviews and ran for 3 seasons before being cancelled.

His fourth show, Bunsen Is a Beast, aired on Nickelodeon and Nicktoons from January 16, 2017 to February 10, 2018. On February 8, 2018, Hartman announced on his Twitter and YouTube accounts that he had left Nickelodeon as of February 2 after a 20-year run.[2][3]

After Hartman announced that he was leaving Nickelodeon, he said in the same video that he was working new projects to be released in the future. He announced that he is working on a show called Elf Detective for his YouTube channel as well as a secret project with PocketWatch, Inc.

On June 18, 2018, Hartman launched a Kickstarter campaign for his own streaming service for family-focused entertainment called OAXIS. It reached its goal of $250,000 on July 18, 2018.[10]

His other TV work includes voicing various characters on the animated series Family Guy and playing the character Sean Masters on the short-lived series Generations in 1991. He also appeared on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives during the late 1980s. In 2012, it was announced that Hartman was set to serve as the director on the film adaptation of ALF for Sony Pictures Animation.

In 2015, Hartman launched a "kid safe network (app) of live shows and cartoons" called the Noog Network.[11][12] In August 2016, Hartman showed on YouTube the short sequences of his Cartoon Network's pilot episode dating back to 2011, called Dynamice!.[13] He's also working on a comic book called "The 3 O'Clock Club", as revealed on a YouTube live stream on his channel.[14][15] A comic was released in 2017.[16]

In October 2017, Hartman started a podcast called Speech Bubble, on which he talks about cartoons, movies, pop culture, and various other topics. Several voice actors have appeared on the podcast, including Rob Paulsen, Tara Strong, Jerry Trainor, Grey Griffin and Vic Mignogna. After initially posting excerpts on his primary YouTube channel, the podcast videos were later moved to its own dedicated YouTube channel, now including full episodes.[17][18]

Hartman's younger brothers are: Mike, Keith and Timothy.[20] The character Timmy Turner from The Fairly OddParents, was named after his younger brother, Timothy, and the character of Mikey from Bunsen is a Beast was, as he explained, his chance to name a lead after his brother Mike.

In 2005, Hartman, along with his wife, founded Hartman House, a non-profit organization that travels to developing nations and some of the most poverty stricken areas in the United States.[21] Hartman House has built two homes for families in Guatemala, fed nearly 7,200 families with Thanksgiving meals in the U.S., and is in the midst of funding a school in Uganda. At Hartman House events, Hartman usually draws and autographs items related to his work for children.